Abbas, Meshaal to discuss Shalit

April 27, 2007 9:00am

Mahmoud Abbas will meet with the exiled leader of Hamas to discuss the possible release of a captive Israeli soldier and other matters.

The Palestinian Authority president was to meet Friday in Cairo with Khaled Meshaal, who runs the terrorist organization from Damascus. They will discuss the P.A. national unity government and efforts by Abbas, a relative moderate, to end the P.A.’s international isolation, which began with the election last year of Hamas, a group that reject’s Israel’s existence.

Abbas also will raise the fate of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured last June in a cross-border raid by Hamas-affiliated gunmen; Meshaal scuttled a possible prisoner exchange deal last year.

Meshaal also wants a seat on the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a body Abbas heads that bridges the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Diaspora.